22 Moons- Hunt For The Stolen Child (6th Night, 5th Trail)

--- Jon ---

He hit the ground hard and at an angle that sent a searing pain through his shoulder.

“Ow, not again…” He hated dislocating his shoulder, especially since the stinging and soreness tended to stick around until Pix mended it for him.

A weighty thump fell a few meters away from him and he found his attention being drawn to the giant who’d thrown him in the first place.

“Look alive boys, we’ve got an intruder in the base.” Andre called, gaining the attention of all of the nearby Dealers.

(That’s not good…) He grabbed his arm and gave it both a twist and a pull, sending a second knife of pain through his shoulder as he relocated it.

“Oof, that’s gotta sting.” The giant laughed with a clap of his hands, before bumping a fist against his shoulder. “Glad the ol’ Orkin Hide keeps that from happening to me.”

“Lucky.” He agreed, his mind a little frazzled from both his impact and his arm.

Not that that stopped him from taking notice of the dozen or so Dealers that were boxing him in on all sides.

(Let’s try to even those numbers a bit.) He raised a hand into the air, pulling magic through his amulet and into the mark on his back, before slamming his palm into the ground and pulling as summoned Wolf in front of him.

His canine companion took one look around the room before immediately going on guard.

“Oh-ho, a Contractor.” The giant grinned. “Going to get the pup there to fight your battles for you mage-y.”

“Think you and your doubles can keep the grunts off my back?” He asked Wolf, knowing that odds are he wouldn’t be able to handle that many people going after him.

Wolf eyed the guard, slowly encircling them before nodding once.

“Good then on my mark.” He told her, eyeing the giant and weighing his odds against an unknown species of magical creature.

Despite Blackwell being home to a rather large magical forest as well as a nexus to a number of rifts and bleeds, he hadn’t actually picked up all that much experience with magical beings outside of fairies like Pix and the numerous forms of Corrupted. Largely due to the later forcing all other magical beings into hiding as they took over the forest and corrupted anything they could get their hands on.

Which is why the only thing he could figure out about the giant in front of him was the fact that Andre was physically stronger than him and would likely break something if the giant managed to land a blow. (On the other hand he’s a bit bulkier than most, so maybe I can outpace him at the very least…)

“Alright, count of three.” He murmured just loud enough for Wolf to hear as he drew one of his knives.

Wolf gave him another odd as she shifted her stance ever so slightly.

“One…” He swallowed, a familiar feeling clawing at the back of his mind.

The guards around him closed ranks, the only real gap being between them and the giant in front of him.

“Two…” He crouched ever so slightly so as to better prepare for the initial rush.

Wolf subtly began to inhale.

“Three!” He called sprinting forward as Wolf unleashed a howl, summoning two more glowing wolves as the primal sound echoed throughout the warehouse.

“Heh-heh-ha! Straight for the boss!” Andre laughed, spreading his legs to better grapple with. “Right on ya, brother!”

As Jon neared Andre, he readied his knife before dropping to the ground and sliding along the smooth concrete between the giant’s legs. A quick stab to the giant’s elephant-esque ankle failed to break skin like he hoped, but still gave him enough leverage to throw himself back onto his feet so that he could run up the stairs just behind the giant and back up to the warehouse’s second floor.

“Wha- Where the hell are you going?!” He heard Andre yell in a dumbfounded tone, as if he couldn’t begin to understand why Jon would refuse to fight someone who could easily break him in one or two blows.

Deciding there was no reason to answer he quickly made his way back to the place Andre had thrown him from, and found Kenneth struggling to get out of the scarf Jon had wrapped him in.

“Sorry about that little guy.” He apologized, picking the toddler up. “If they’re going to be so rude about this we should probably just leave.”

Kenneth gave him a disgruntled nod, as Jon cast a quick glance to the floor below where Wolf and her doubles were creating a veritable storm of chaos as her winds lashed around her with enough force that he had no problem paying for the fairly large drain he could feel on his reserves.

“Fucking- Somebody shoot that fucking coward of an Arcane!” Andre screamed his face twisting in rage.

“Hey!” Jon cried meeting the giant’s murderous eyes. “Language, there’s a child present.”

A gunshot barked through the warehouse flying just a short distance from him and reminding him that even if Wolf could handle the guards by herself, he probably shouldn’t make himself an easy target.

Moving once more he found himself quickly cut off as the three Dealers who’d been on the walkway managed to get in front of him. (Not that that’s a real obstacle in this situation.)

“Kenneth I need you to close your eyes for a moment, okay?”

The toddler gave him a nod, and while he couldn’t be sure thanks to the helmet he decided to go ahead and trust that Kenneth had closed his eyes, after all he was a good kid.

(And since I no longer have an impressionable young child watching me…) He cracked his neck before focusing on the Dealers in front of him. (Distract, disable, decimate.)

He threw his knife towards the Dealer in the middle of the trio as he rushed forward, before kneeing the closest in the crotch, stepping around him, grabbing him by the back of the shirt, and throwing him over the railing behind Jon.

Green eyes glanced towards the remaining two Dealers as the third took a step forward knife in hand. (Yeah, no.)

A quick punch and pull to the second, let him drive the knife he’d thrown deeper before ripping it out as he shoved the bleeding dealer into the railing with a shoulder tackle, so that he could take the step necessary to stab the third in the side.

With the third suddenly more concerned with the knife, Jon was free to spin on his heel and throw out an uppercut before grabbing the second Dealer by his belt and lifting him that last little bit needed to send him toppling over the railing.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

That taken care of, he walked past the third Dealer, taking but a moment to reclaim his knife before stomping the man’s knee and sending a back-swinging elbow into his temple knocking him out as his head hit the railing and leaving Jon free to continue on.

“Oh, come on why couldn’t you fight me like that!” Andre cried from the floor below.

(As big as he is, I don’t think I could have thrown him over the railing.) He thought with some confusion, wondering why Andre seemed to think he could’ve despite their size differences.

Shaking his head, he took another glance towards Wolf as kept moving, noting how she was starting to lag after taking down the first half of the Dealers.

(I’ll have to dismiss here as soon as I’m out of here.) He wouldn’t risk her getting hurt just to keep up an already successful distraction.

With that thought in mind he continued across the walkway, mindful of the occasional flurry of gunshots that would be fired at either him or Wolf as well as the fact that regardless of target he was unable to suppress the instinct to flinch with each one.

(At least with the Corrupted, the few that could use guns were slow firing.) They may’ve been strong enough to rip through flesh and stone alike, but he at least had few seconds to breathe between each shot. (Unlike now…)

Eventually he managed to make his way to a very specific part of the second floor walkway, namely the section right above the warehouse entrance. He’d been hoping to avoid this exit strategy, but given how he could see Dealers by both stairwells, as well as Andre trying to make his way between the warehouse aisles, he figured this was probably the easiest way of doing this.

“Alright, Kenneth I’m going to need you to hold on tight for a minute, okay?”

While Kenneth didn’t give a verbal response, he could feel the shaking toddler clinging just a little harder to him.

(Here’s hoping this doesn’t hurt too much.) He sighed before steeling himself and swinging over the ledge.

Due to the fact that he was carrying Kenneth he wasn’t able to roll into the landing the way he normally would, or even to the ledge for a moment to decrease his fall by a few feet.

Though given how he’d fallen from thrice this height before, he was grateful that he only had to fall a single storey as well as the fact that since he was throwing himself he could actually control his landing enough to not dislocate his already damaged shoulder.

“Okay, out the door, through the yard, and we’re home free.” He told himself as much as Kenneth, hoping there was enough distance between him and Andre that the giant couldn’t catch him before he got away.

Stepping out of the warehouse and into the yard, he took a quick moment to try and take in the situation. From what he could see Pix had done a decent job of starting a fight between the various Dealers, given how a handful of them were lying on the ground and a few others were looking a little worse for wear. Unfortunately however, whatever fight they’d been having seemed to have passed for the most part as the rest were drifting around just looking for something to take their remaining agitation out on.

(Such as me, if Andre gets out here before I leave.)

Not willing to risk getting caught, he curved around the outer perimeter of the yard while keeping an eye out for Ramirez.

(Where is he, where is he, where is- There!) His eyes locked onto the man nursing a blackeye against one of the warehouse walls, and he felt the thing in his head growl hungrily.

(He’s right there, but can I…) He glanced around the yard, taking note of the agitated but worn Dealers all around. (No not from here…)

Instead of taking the direct approach and finding himself surrounded by Dealers with nowhere to run, he decided on a more… indirect approach as he smuggled Kenneth out of the yard as quickly as he could.

From the warehouse yard he heard a loud grinding that likely signaled the warehouse's shipping door slamming open, given how Andre was probably too big to fit through the personnel entrance he’d escaped through.

He knew the smart decision was to turn back towards the hospital and start moving to put as much distance between himself and the warehouse as possible, but given how he still had something to take care of he instead made his way to the building he’d used to scout the warehouse.

Taking a moment to dismiss Wolf back to wherever he summoned her from, he shifted Kenneth in his arms before climbing up the fire escape and setting Kenneth down on the roof top.

“Jon?” The toddler asked with a faint sniffle, still shaking a bit from all of the noise and excitement.

“It’s okay Kenneth. I’ve just got one last thing to do and then we’ll go to your mommy.” He assured the toddler, pulling his bow out of his backpack and notching a single arrow.

Looking down at the yard across the street, he found Andre yelling at the other Dealers, likely chastising them for fighting while there was an intruder in their midsts.

(Speaking of.) His eyes looked through the darkening night sky searching for something specific before eventually finding a faint glow drifting towards him slowly. (Slow as she’s going she must’ve pushed her magic to the limit.)

He was going to have to remember to do something nice to thank her for all of her hard work.

(At least if she’s safe then that means I can do this without worry.) Turning back to the warehouse yard, he pulled back on the arrow until the bow string was taut and aimed at a very specific target.

(What’s the saying, ‘one shot, one kill’?) He chuckled bitterly.

“Jon?”

His heart stopped, and his gaze snapped to the toddler next to him, his reflection showing him exactly what the toddler was looking at.

The toddler whose father he was aiming an arrow at.

The toddler whose father he was about to kill.

The toddler who was about to watch him kill his father.

(Oh god.)

His hand slipped and the arrow went wide hitting somewhere away from the crowd of Dealers below as he fell to his knees and began to heave.

(Oh god, I was about to… to…) He heaved again.

“Jon?” Kenneth asked tugging at the helmet.

(W-why, how could I?)

(Because Ramirez is a threat to Ms. Valentine and Kenneth.) A darker part of him answered. (So long as he’s around they’re in danger.)

(But, but I-I can’t just kill a man in cold blood!)

(Why not? I’ve already killed before.)

(But that was different, if I didn’t Rosalind would’ve-)

(And would happen to Kenneth if I left Ramirez alone?)

(R-Ramirez isn’t stupid enough to try this twice!)

(How can I be sure? How can I know he won’t ever hurt Kenneth again?)

His eyes drifted to the bow in his hand as a cold sweat began to cover his skin.

(No, no, no. No! I don’t… I don’t need to, to…)

(Then Kenneth will never be safe will he?)

(But I can’t, I, I… Not in front of.)

A mad laugh filled his mind, as he realized something horrible.

(I’d really kill him if Kenneth wasn’t watching, wouldn’t I?)

This time he vomited.

He wasn’t entirely sure how much time passed his mind going in circles as he realized just how horrible of a person he really was. (I’m not safe, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be anywhere near anyone I can hurt, I shouldn’t-)

A small hand touched his face, and his eyes jumped to Pix’s concerned face as he snapped out of his spiral.

(W-what just happened?) He wondered, trying to understand what just happened to him even though he could only remember a few bits and pieces despite just having those thoughts.

“Jon…” Kenneth called.

“Y-yeah?” He asked, hating how shaky he must sound to the child depending on him.

“You have an ouchie.” The toddler told him.

“An ouchie?” He repeated, before feeling something warm and damp on his lip. Something he was disturbingly used to after everything in Blackwell.

He felt like dry heaving again, but forced it back as he wiped the blood out from under his nose. “P-Pix you, you mind?”

The little fairy let out a sad trilling sound.

“Right… I…” He frowned before pushing his magic into his contractor’s mark with Pix.

There was a subtle flash of light around Pix as he summoned her and connected his magic supply to her own.

She let out another sad trill before circling around him and healing the few injuries he’d picked up through the night.

“Let’s… let’s get you back to your… your mommy.” He told Kenneth, as he wiped his nose once more and forced himself onto his feet.

“Okay…” Kenneth nodded, sounding a cruel mix of scared and worried.

“Don’t worry… you’ll be safe soon.” He promised, picking the toddler up before holding him close. Whether to comfort himself or the toddler he couldn’t tell.